Hi 



D 525 
.H73 
Copy 1 






The Messiah Pulpit 



A Statement To My People 
On the Eve of War 



By 
Rev. John Haynes Holmes 

Minister of the Church of the Messiah 







May, 1917 


- 




(Third Edition) 


and ^ 




PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 


f'^' 




Published by the 




Ch 


urch of the Messiah 
Park Avenue and 34th Street 
New York City 



^yy 



V4 



9 Housf 



NOTICE 

The Messiah Pulpit, by tradition and practice, is a 
free platform, dedicated to the ideal of truth. Its ser- 
mons, in both their spoken and written form, are the 
utterances of the preacher, who accepts for them ex- 
clusive responsibility. 

The publication of these sermons is made possible by 
a private fund for this purpose. Contributions to this 
fund are needed, and may be sent to Rev. John Haynes 
Holmes, 61 East 34th Street, New York City. 



^ 



A Statement To My People 
On the Eve of War 



To-morrow morning (April 2), there will assemble in 
the capital city of the nation the Congress of these 
United States, called together in special session by 
proclamation of the President, to consider matters of 
grave moment in the life of the Republic. This as- 
semblage of the chosen representatives of our people 
promises to be the most fateful in our history. Unless 
events now unforeseen, unexpected and in the highest 
degree improbable intervene, the Congress will either 
affirm that this country is in a state of war, or will do 
the more formal and decisive thing of issuing a declara- 
tion of war against the Imperial German Government. 
In either case, the destinies of this nation will be im- 
mediately and irretrievably committed to the operation of 
forces which have long since passed beyond the control 
of those who first released them. What this impend- 
ing action of our governnient means, what consequences 
of triumph or disaster it will bring down upon us, to 
what ends of civilization or barbarism it will lead us, 
no man can say. We are entering blindly upon hidden 
ways, of which the direction and goal lie altogether be- 
yond our ken. But that the character of our Republic 
will be fundamentally altered for better or for worse, 
and the higher interests of humanity irreparably dam- 
aged or immeasurably glorified by our entrance into the 
Great War, is certain. Nothing either in this country 
or in Europe will ever be the same again. What we 
bear or forebear in this coming week changes the cur- 
rents of human destiny forever. To say that we are 
facing the most fateful moment that America will ever 
know, though a score of centuries be added to her pres- 

3 



ent span of years, is only to state a fact as obvious as 
it is awful. 

It is in anticipation of the world-shaking events which 
a week or a day may bring upon us in this country, and 
in fulfillment of the duty which I conceive these prob- 
able events impose upon me as a religious teacher, that 
I have chosen this morning, as on the Sunday follow- 
ing the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, 
to lay aside my sermon, and speak to you as simply and 
directly as possible upon the state of the nation. I do 
not deceive myself into believing that what I say here 
will influence public affairs, reach any other ears than 
your own, or even be long remembered by you who are 
my friends. But I am not unmindful of the fact that 
there are obligations of my high office which must be 
discharged even amid the crash of worlds. Thus I can- 
not forget, in times like these, what I owe to my own 
soul — that it shall not be hidden away from the knowl- 
edge of men's minds, but be revealed so fully and so 
clearly that not a shadow of misunderstanding shall 
abide. At the moment when I was ordained to be a 
minister of God, I conceive that I was commanded to 
throw wide open the portals of my heart, that all who 
cared might see its innermost recesses of conviction ; 
and I do not propose that even the terror of this hour shall 
bar that threshold from the public gaze. Furthermore, 
I cannot forget what I owe to you, my beloved people. 
You have a right to know what I shall say and do in 
the event of war, upon what road of doctrine I shall 
set my feet, into what hazards of pain and peril I shall 
lead this church. The pew is always entitled to the full 
confession of the pulpit, but never so urgently as at 
the time when sivch. confession touches the deep issues 
of life and death. If there be any here who is tempted 
to question the wisdom or the sincerity of what I am 
now doing,! let him think for a moment of how easy it 
would have been for me to keep silent, avoid the ques- 
tions v/hich are to-day setting the son "at variance 
against his father, the daughter against her mother, the 
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law," and trust to 

4 



the kindly sentiments of personal affection, conceived, 
nourished and matured through ten years of labor in 
this parish, to sustain the relationship between minister 
and people unbroken, till happier times should come 
again to earth. The easiest way, however, in this in- 
stance as in all instances, would have been dishonorable, 
and, in the long run, disastrous. The only honest, the 
only safe way, is for me to ask you to look me in the 
face this day — to "search me and know my heart, try 
me and know my thoughts" — and then to determine 
whether my God is your God, and we can worship and 
work together in war as in peace. Therefore, before 
the bugles sing and the flags are lifted high, I ask you 
to hear me. My purpose is not to argue or persuade. 
I would not even exhort or plead, much less instruct. 
I propose simply to speak my whole mind on the present 
crisis, and then leave with you my fate. 

On the morning of Sunday, March 7, 1915, I de- 
clared in this church my absolute and unalterable op- 
position to war. ''War," I said, "is never justifiable at 
any time or under any circumstances. No man is wise 
enough, no nation is important enough, no human inter- 
est is precious enough, to justify the wholesale destruc- 
tion and murder which constitute the essence of war. 
. . . War is hate, and hate has no place within the 
human heart. War is death, and death has no place 
within the realm of life. War is hell, and hell has no 
more place in the human order than in the divine." I 
then asked what "this means in practical terms to-day?" 
And I answered, "It means not only that war is un- 
justifiable in general, but that this English war is un- 
justifiable for Englishmen, and this German war is im- 
justifiable for Germans. It means that this war which 
may in the folly of men, come to America to-morrow, 
is unjustifiable for Americans." 

These words spoken in this place more than two years 
/ago, I must reaffirm this day. Nothing has happened in 
this period of time to change my opinion of war. On 
the contrary, much has happened to strengthen and con- 
firm it. I do not deny that war, like polygamy, slavery 

5 



and cannibalism, was inseparable from early and low 
stages of social life. I do not deny that war, like pestil- 
ence, famine and conflagration, has often helped forward 
the civilization of mankind, for thus does God make 
the wrath, as well as the agony of men, to praise him. 
I do not even deny that there have been times in the 
past when war, like the storms of the sea, has seemed 
to be unavoidable. What I do deny is that these facts 
of history touch in any remotest way the judgment of 
ethics and religion that war is wrong, or should swerve 
by so much as a hair's breadth the decision of any one 
of us to have nothing to do with it. War is in open 
and utter violation of Christianity. If war is right, then 
Christianity is wrong, false, a lie. If Christianity is 
right, then war is wrong, false, a lie. The God revealed 
by Jesus, and by every great spiritual leader of the race, 
is no God of battles. He lifts no sword — he asks no 
sacrifice of blood. He is the Father of all m.en, Jew 
and Gentile, bond and free. His spirit is love, his rule 
is peace, his method of persuasion is forgiveness. His 
law, as interpreted and promulgated by the Nazarene, 
is "love one another," "resist not evil with evil," "for- 
give seventy times seven," "overcome evil v/ith good," 
"love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good 
to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefuUy 
use you and persecute you." f Such a God and such a 
law, others may reconcile with war, if they can. I can- 
not — and what I cannot do, I will not profess to do. y 
But I must go farther — I must speak not only of w^ 
in general, but of this war in particular. Most persons 
are quite ready to agree, especially in the piping times 
of peace, that war is wrong. But let a war cloud no 
bigger than a man's hand, appear on the horizon of the 
nation's life, and they straightway begin to qualify their 
judgment, and if the war cloud grow until it covers all 
the heavens, they finally reverse it. This brings the 
curious situation of all war being wrong in general, and 
each war being right in particular. Germans denounce 
war, with the exception of course of the present con- 
flict with England. ' Englishmen condemn war, but ex- 

6 



elude from their indictment the present fight against the 
Central Empires. ,'' Americans have been vociferous in 
their repudiation of v^^ar as a method of settling inter- 
national disputes, but are now on the verge of accepting 
the first chance to draw the sword which the European 
cataclysm has offered. Therefore do I find it necessary 
to state not only what I think of war, but of this war 
which seems to-day so near at hand ! 

To criticize adversely a war in which one's native land 
is about to engage, or has already entered, is unusual, 
but fortunately not unknown. On February 4, 1847, 
amid the fever of public enthusiasm following the out- 
break of the Mexican War, Theodore Parker, addressing 
a great anti-war meeting in Faneuii Hall, Boston, said, 
''This war had a mean and infamous beginning, and is 
being waged for a mean and infam^ous purpose. ... I 
know but one war so bad in modern times, and that was 
the war for the partition of Poland." Four months 
later, in a sermon preached in the Boston Music Hall, 
at a time when thousands of American soldiers had been 
killed in battle, and other thousands were still pouring 
out their life-blood on Mexican soil, Theodore Parker 
again said, ''We are v/aging a most iniquitous war. . . . 
We must refuse to take any part in it . . . encourage 
others to do the same . . . and aid men, if need be, who 
suffer because they refuse." 

The Mexican War of 1847 may have been very dif- 
ferent from the German V/ar of 1917, but the spirit of 
free utterance here manifested by our greatest Unitarian 
preacher, is the same in every age. It was in accordance 
with this spirit that I stated in this place on Sunday, 
February 4 last, the day following the dismissal of Am- 
bassador Bernstoff, that "nothing can conceivably be 
im.agined which can justify war between America and 
Germany" ; and it is in accordance with this same spirit, 
that I nov/ reaffirm this judgment. I have no desire to 
substantiate it, since the argument raises dubious ques- 
tions and would inevitably involve regrettable antago- 
nisms. On the other hand, however, 3^ou are entitled to 
know mv processes of thought and the reasons for my 

7 



conclusion. May I say, therefore, that the impending 
v/ar at this moment seems to me to be wrong, since it 
has its origin in motives only less ignoble than those 
which drove us into conflict with Mexico just seventy 
years ago? If you tell me that this war is fought for 
the integrity of international law, I must ask you why 
it is directed only against Germany and not also against 
England, which is an equal although far less terrible 
violator of covenants between nations? If you say that 
it is fought on behalf of the rights of neutrals, I must 
ask you where, when and by which belligerent the rights 
of neutrals have been conserved in this war, and what 
guarantee you can offer that, after all our expenditure 
of blood and money for their defense, these rights will 
not be similarly violated all over again in the next war 
by any nation which is battling for its life? If you 
say that it is fought for the security of American prop- 
erty and lives, I must ask you how and to what extent 
it will be safer for our citizens to cross the seas after 
the declaration of war than it was before? If you say 
that it is fought in vindication of our national honor, I 
must ask you why no harm has come to the honor of 
other nations, such as Holland and Scandinavia, for 
example, which have suffered even more than we, but, 
for prudential reasons, refuse to take up arms? If you 
say that this is a war of defense against wanton and 
intolerable aggression, I must reply that every blow 
which we have endured has been primarily a blow di- 
rected not against ourselves but against England, and 
that it has yet to be proved that Germany has any in- 
tention or desire of attacking us. If you say that this 
war is a life-and-death struggle for the preservation of 
civilization against barbarism, I must ask you why we 
remained neutral when Belgium was raped, and were 
at last aroused to action not by the cries of the stricken 
abroad, but by our own losses in men and money? If 
you say that this war is a last resort in a situation 
which every other method, patiently tried, has failed to 
meet, I must answer that this is not true — that other 
ways and means of action, tried by experience and justi- 

8 



lied by success, have been laid before the administration 
and wilfully rejected. 

\\In its ultimate causes, this war is the natural product 
ana expression of our unchristian civilization./! Its 
armed men are grown from the dragon's teeth of secret 
diplomacy, imperialistic ambition, dynastic pride, greedy 
commercialism, economic exploitation at home and 
abroad. In the sowing of these teeth, America has had 
h-er part; and it is therefore only proper, perhaps, that 
she should have her part also in the reaping of the 
dreadful harvest. In its more immediate causes, this, 
war is the direct result of unwarrantable, cruel, but! 
none the less inevitable interferences with our commer- 
cial relations with one group of the belligerents. Our 
participation in the war, therefore, like the war itself, 
is political and economic, not ethical, in its character. 
Any honor, dignity, or beauty which there may be in 
our impending action, is to be found in the impulses, 
pure and undefiled, which are actuating many patriotic 
hearts to-day, and not at all in the real facts of the 
situation. The war itself is wrong. Its prosecution will 
be a crime. There is not a question raised, an issue 
involved, a cause at stake, which is worth the life of 
one blue- jacket on the sea or one khaki-coat in the 
trenches. I question the sincerity of no man who sup- 
ports this war — I salute the devotion of every man who 
proposes to sustain it with his money or his blood. But 
I say to you that v/hen, years hence, the whole of this j j 
story has been told, it will be found that we have been | ' 
tragically deceived, and all our sacrifices been made in 
1 vain. 

Statements of this kind, made on the eve of war, 
seem to many persons to be treasonable. The charge 
of ''traitor" has already been flung against me, and will 
be flung again. To such a charge, I might be content 
to answer in the words of Patrick Henry, who, when 
similarly accused, cried out, *Tf this be treason, make 
the most of it." Wiser and kindlier was the reply of 
Theodore Parker who, when denounced as a traitor be- 
cause of his steadfast opposition to the Mexican War, 

9 



said, "I think lightly of what is called treason against 
a government. That may be your duty to-day, or 
mine. . . . But treason against the people, against man- 
kind, against God, is a great sin, not lightly to be 
spoken of." But I desire to go farther in this matter, 
and deny without evasion that anything that I have 
said, or may say, can be interpreted as traitorous or dis- 
loyal. In time of war as in time of peace, in the hour 
of sin as in the hour of glory, I shall love my country 
and serve her to the end. Nothing that she can do will 
end my affection or sever my allegiance. There are men 
who cast off their wives, if they be guilty of infidelity — 
but I would not do so with my wife. There are men 
who turn their daughters into the streets if they go 
wrong — but I would not do so with my daughter. There 
are men who refuse ever again to see sons, or friends, 
or comrades, if they are guilty of dishonesty or crime — 
but I would not act so in such a case. Nothing that any 
man or woman can do, least of all the ones to whom I 
am bound by ties of kindred or affection, shall remove 
them from my love, deny them my forgiveness, or exile 
them from my devotion. I will denounce sin with in- 
exorable rigor. I will condone no fault, excuse no of- 
fense, exact the uttermost farthing of just punishment. 
But the one I love shall always be to me as my own 
soul. The greater the offense, the deeper shall be my 
offering of pity. As they that watch for the morning, 
shall I watch with tearful eyes, prayerful lips, com- 
passionate heart, for the coming of the day of glad re- 
demption, and when at last it dawns, rejoice and be ex- 
ceeding glad ! 

So also with my relation to my country ! Nothing 
that America can do, can quench my passion for her 
beauty, or divert my loyalty from her service. She is 
the only country I have, or shall ever have, and I pro- 
pose that she shall be mine forever, in war or peace, in 
storm or calm, in evil or good. In this impending crisis 
with Germany, I believe that she is wrong. She seems 
to me to be faithless to her own supreme calling among 
the nations of the earth, disloyal to high interests of 

10 



humanity long since committed to her care, guilty for 
a selfish motive of a grievous fault. But her infidelity 
shall not shake my faith, her disloyalty shall not change 
my loyalty, her guilt shall not discharge my obligation. 
I shall decline to become, or to be made, "a man without 
a country." America has committed wrongs in the past, 
and she will undoubtedly commit other wrongs in the 
future. But she is mine, as Hosea's adulterous wife, 
Gomer, was his ; and I will love her, dream of her, hope 
for her, serve her, without ceasing. "I will betroth thee 
unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in 
righteousness, in loving kindness and in tender mercy. 
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, until 
thou shalt know the Lord." 

And how shall I, a pacifist, serve my country in time 
of war? 

When hostilities begin, it is universally assumed that 
there is but a single service v/hich a loyal citizen can 
render to the state — that of bearing arms and killing the 
enemy. Will you understand me if I say, humbly and 
regretfully, that this I cannot, and will not, do. If any 
man or boy in this church answers the call to arms, I 
shall bless him as he marches to the front. When he 
lies in the trenches, or watches on the lonely sentinel- 
post, or fights in the charge, I shall follow him with my 
prayers. If he is brought back dead from hospital or 
battlefield, I shall bury him with all the honors not of 
war but of religion. He will have obeyed hi§ conscience 
and thus performed his whole duty as a man. But I 
also have a conscience, and that conscience I also must 
obey. When, therefore, there comes a call "for volun- 
teers, I shall have to refuse to heed. When there is an 
enrollment of citizens for military purposes, I shall have 
to refuse to register. When, or if, the system of con- 
scription is adopted, I shall have to decline to serve. 
If this means a fine, I will pay my fine. If this means 
imprisonment, I will serve my term. If this means per- 
secution, I will carry my cross. ;t No order of president! 
or governor, no law of nation or state, no loss of repu-i 
tation, freedom or life, will persuade me or force me to' 

11 



this business of killing. On this issue, for me at least, 
there is "no compromise." Mistaken, foolish, fanatical, 
I may be; I will not deny the charge. But false to my 
own soul I will not be. Therefore here I stand. God 
help me ! I cannot do other ! , 

And this resolution applies, let me now be careful to 
state, quite as much to my professional as to my per- 
sonal life. Once war is here, the churches will be called 
upon to enlist, as will every other social institution.' 
Therefore would I make it plain that, so long as I am 
your minister, the Church of the Messiah will answer 
no military summons. Other pulpits may preach re- 
cruiting sermons; mine will not.' Other parish houses 
may be turned into drill halls and rifle ranges ; ours will 
not. Other clergymen may pray to God for victory for 
our arms ; I will not. In this church, if nowhere else 
in all America, the Germans will still be included in 
the family of God's children. No word of hatred shall 
be spoken against them — no evil fate shall be desired 
upon them. War may beat upon our portals, like storm 
v/aves on the granite crags ; rumors of war may thrill 
the atmosphere of this sanctuary as lightning the still 
air of a summer night. But so long as I am priest, this 
altar shall be consecrated to human brotherhood, and 
before it shall be offered worship only to that one God 
and Father of us all, *'who hath made of one blood all 
nations of men for to dwell together on the face of 
the earth." 

But if I will not, or cannot, either as man or minister, 
have part in the operations of war, how can I talk of 
such a thing as serving the nation? When the enemy 
is at the gates, what is there to do but to snatch up a 
sword, and fight? Let me tell you what there is to do. 
Let me specify at least four things which I propose to do. 

First of all, I shall make it my duty to fulfill in word 
and deed the gracious tasks of what may be called the 
ministry of reconciliation. In a time of raging hate 
and brutal passion, I will keep alive that spirit of good- 
will toward men, through which alone a durable peace 
on earth may some day be established. When darkness 

12 



covers the earth and gross darkness the people; I will 
keep burning my single torch, that there may somewhere 
still be light.] \I will keep my heart pure of all distrust, 
vindictiveness, and fear. I will cherish confidence in the 
integrity and devotion of the German people. I will ac- 
cept and glorify the unselfish patriotism of my country- 
men who believe in and sustain the war. I will hold no 
feeling of ill-will against those of my friends and par- 
ishioners who may rend me in anger, spit upon me in 
contempt, or leave me in tears. When madness sweeps 
the land, I will preserve my sanity. When passion en- 
gulfs the people, I will retain my self-control. When 
hatred consumes men's hearts, I will keep sweet, whole- 
some and compassionate. If unfortunate aliens among 
us are seized and persecuted, I will protect them from 
the vengeance of my countrymen. If my comrades are 
reviled and stricken, I will sustain their courage and 
fortify their patience. If I am myself assailed in bitter- 
ness and contempt, I will speak no evil, but "bear all 
things" unperturbed. I will remember the starving mil- 
lions of Belgium, Serbia, Poland and Armenia, whom my 
countrymen may neglect for the more important business / 
; of killing Germans. \\ I will remember the burden-bearers/ 
i of my land who, in"\:imes of war as in times of peace,! 
j are still tjie victims of politkal corruption and economicj\ 
ij injustice. l\ I will rememb^PWithout distinction the peo-' 
1' pies of all lands who bear this day the agonies laid upon 
i'them by the governments which deceive and use them. 
Always will I labor to keep open the choked and defiled 
channels of understanding, sympathy and goodwill be- 
tween hostile nations and divided classes. And above 
all will I remember that, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
it is my business to preach and practise, not my passions 
as a man or my prejudices as an American, but that 
whole and perfect love which is of God. Thus in an 
age of unprecedented discord and disturbance, I will 
serve the ministry of reconciliation, and thus, I trust, 
my country in her best estate. 

Secondly, I will serve my country in war time by serv- 
ing the ideals of democracy which constitute the soul and 
--*-"• 13 



center of her being., War and democracy are incom- 
patible. When war comes, democracy gge.s// /England, 
fighting nobly to conquer" Prussianism, is herself in proc- 
ess of being conquered by the Prussian spirit. Al- 
ready in our own country, iDcfore the beginning of war, 
the dread work of militarism is under way.h Already 
freedom of thought is being denied, and liberty of con- 
• ^science challenged, [j Already we are in the m.idst of such 
/an orgy of bigotry,"intolerance and persecution for opin- 
ions' sake, as American has not seen since the days of 
I the Salem witches. The whole fabric of democracy is 
'threatened, the priceless heritage of our fathers in peril 
of loss. America has never been in such danger as she 
is to-day — and the source of the danger is at home and 
not abroad. 1 1 Hence my resolve to serve that America 
which I love so well that I would not have her made 
^ over into the likeness of the militarism v/hich she clamors 
' to destroy. I will do v/hat I can to safeguard free 
thought and free speech, by practising both at any cost. 
I v/ill do what I can to preserve liberty of conscience, 
by exercising that liberty without flinching. I will do 
what I can to guarantee to posterity the democratic 
ideals and institutions of America, by resisting to the 
death every assault upon their bulwarks. One such as- 
sault is now being made in the movement for universal 
military training. So long as I have breath to speak, 
or hand to lift a pen, I will oppose this monstrous thing. 
By conscription the autocracies of Europe have stood 
thus long. By conscription this war, perfectly prepared 
for, inevitably came. /I By conscription the minds of men 
are "cribbed, cabined and confined" to the bounds of 
that narrow nationalism which is the fiercest foe of 
brotherhood, j , By conscription the consciences of men 
are enslaved to the mastery of those who can command 
the sinking of the "Lusitania" and the shooting of Nurse 
Cavell.l|By conscription, more effectually than by the 
attack of German legions, this country can be destroyed, 
and the fairest experiment of democracy the world has 
ever seen brought to an untimely end.jj Therefore will 
I fight it, and all other devices of militaristic tyranny, 

14 



and thereby again exalt truly the best interests of my 
native land. // 

Thirdly, I will serve my country at this time by pre- 
paring the way, so far as I am able, for the establish- 
[ment of that peace which sooner or later must follow 
I upon war. This struggle, into which now we are about 
to plunge, cannot go on forever. Some day the bugles 
must sing truce across the fields of battle, tired war- 
riors ground arms, and statesmen sit in guarded council 
halls to make an end of strife. And this end must be 
an arrangement by which Germans and English, Rus- 
sians and Turks, must continue to live side by side iji 
a common world, engage in the interchange of business, 
learning and decent courtesy which make up ordered 
life, and cooperate in the common service of the common 
interests of our one humanity. This necessity of liv- 
ing together cannot be escaped. Germans, even though 
beaten to their knees, cannot be slaughtered in a uni- 
versal massacre, and the race therewith exterminated. 
Englishmen, even though conquered, cannot flee to 
Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter, and colonize new planets as 
they have in other ages colonized new continents. For 
better or worse, this earth m.ust be the single abode of 
all these scattered tribes and hostile peoples. Which 
means that peace must some day come, and the ordered 
relationships of peaceful living be some way reestab- 
lished! For the consummation of this end, preparation 
is necessary, and it must be initiated without delay. 
To discover terms of reconciliation, to work out methods 
of cooperation, to soften hate and dispell suspicion, to 
spread abroad sweet influences of confidence and heal- 
ing — this is a task as beneficent as it is prodigious. Be- 
fore she herself became a belligerent, this was the task 
appointed as by the fiat of God for America.)] But now 
that she has cast away this sacred charge,[/it remains 
for us who cannot take up arms at her behest, to keep it 
in her stead. How better can we serve our country than 
by restoring to her, or fulfilling for her, that high mis- 
sion of peace-making, which is so uniquely and divinely 
hers ! t 

15 



Lastly, I will serve my country in war time, by serv- 
ing the dream of ial£rnational brotherhood. No nation 
is worthy the allegiance of even the meanest of her 
citizenry, which is not dedicated to the establishment of 
that larger and more inclusive life of universal associa- 
tion, which is the glad promise of mankind. America, 
for more than a hundred years, has been first among 
the countries of the world, in recognition and service 
of this ideal. She has been a gathering place of all the 
tribes of earth — a melting-pot into which the ingredients 
of every race, religion and nationality have been poured. 
And out of it has come not so much a new nation as 
a new idea — the idea of brotherhood. ) This idea has 
stamped our people as a chosen people.^ It has set our 
land apart as a holy land. It has exalted our destiny as 
a divine destiny. And now, with the plunge into the 
welter of contending European nationalities, all this is 
gone. I Gone, at least, if those of us who see not to-day's 
quarrel but to-morrow's prophecy, do not dedicate our- 
selves unfalteringly to the forgotten vision !| 'This I am 
resolved to do. I will serve America by serving her 
ideal of humanity. I will open my heart, as she has 
opened her shores, to all peoples of the earth. I will 
give love, as she has given hospitality, to the hated and 
hunted of God's children. And lo, from out my soul, 
as once from out her soil, shall grow "a tree of life," 
whose leaves are for "the heahng of the nations." 

This is my service for the days of war— the ministry 
of reconciliation, the defence of democracy,, the prepara- 
tion of the gospel of peace, the quest of brotherhood. 
It is the deliberate espousal of that higher spiritual 
loyalty which is not so much the destruction as it is 
the fulfillment of those lower and more carnal loyalties 
which stir the envy and the hate of men. It is the 
deliberate resolve to "lengthen (the) cords and strengthen 
(the) stakes" which bind my spirit to the earth, that 
I may "enlarge the place of (my) tent, and stretch 
forth the curtains of (my) habitation." It is the deliber- 
ate purpose to face the eternal paradox of flesh and spirit, 
Caesar and Christ, kingdoms of earth and the kingdom of 

16 



heaven, the church visible and the church invisible, 
and choose "the better part." "For finer spirits . . . 
there are two dwelling places," says Romain RoUand in 
Above the Battle, "our earthly fatherland, and that other 
City of God. Of the one we are the guests, of the 
other the builders. To the one let us give cur lives and 
faithful hearts; but neither family, friend, nor father- 
land, nor ought that we love, has power over the spirit. 
The spirit is the light. It is our duty to lift it above 
tempests, and thrust aside the clouds which threaten to 
obscure it, to build higher and stronger, dominating the 
injustice and hatred of nations, the walls of that city 
wherein the souls of the whole world may assemble." 

That you will follow me upon this road of travail, 
I cannot command and will not ask.// I reverence too 
deeply and cherish too tenderly not only my freedom but 
your own, to venture such an appeal to your good nature. 
But that you will be not unwilling to have your minister 
lead your church upon this road, I dare to hope. When 
confusion, death and terror are about us, I like to think 
that you will be glad to find in the refuge of this place, 
"those things which cannot be shaken." When cries of 
hate and lust are burdening the air, I like to think that 
you will rejoice to hear within this sanctuary the words 
that tell of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men." 
Even when the boys of this church, moved by exalted 
sense of duty, march to the front, there to slay and to 
be slain, I like to think that they will look back fondly 
to this altar and its priests, and thank God there is some 
witness still of better days and happier peoples. It is 
because I like to think these things that I hope my resig- 
nation as your minister will be neither expected nor de- 
manded. It is because I have faith in your understand- 
ing of the church of God and its high mission upon 
earth, that I hope to continue to bear truthful witness 
in this pulpit, in war as in peace, to what I feel to be 
the will of God. it is because I have great love for you 
as friends and comrades, and no other desire upon earth 
than to serve you and the cause of free religion which 
you committed to my charge ten years 3igo,'~^k^1 hope 

17 



God will be kind to me, and keep me still in the grace 
of your affection. 

Such is my hope! I pray that it is well-founded. 
If not, I shall want to know. You have but to speak, 
and I will surrender my post to one who can safer guard 
it, and obediently though sadly go my way. The world 
is wide — so long as I have my soul to comrade, I shall 
not be lonely — and if I go down at last in failure and 
defeat, I shall find comfort in the thought that other 
and far better men than I have walked that road and 
met that end, but none of them all for a better or a 
grander cause. For America, for humanity, for God, I 
shall have lived and died. Than this no man can ask 
a happier fate. ,_^.,- " "'^ / 

"They out-talked thee, hissed thee, tore thee? 
Better men fared thus before thee ; 
Fired their ringing shot and passed, 
Hotly charged — and sank at last. 

"Charge once more, then, and be dumb ! 
Let the victors, when they come, 
When the forts of folly fall, 
Find thy body by the wall!" 



1 W Zff'^f^'^ ""'"9 ^'^^ Bookkeeper process 

PreservationTechnoIogies 

AWOR.OCEAO«,NPAPERPResERvXT.O. 



ER «N PAPER PRESERVATION 

■ • • momson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




021 547 825 7 • 






'i 



,n,Sfi.^.'^.y,..,9f:. CONGRESS 



021 547 825 7 



1 



